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Stratton
Places of Interest 'The Stratton Yacht Club '(Socialize 5 Site) The Stratton Club is located on a narrow drive off Beacon Road, a huge Gothic Revival manse set on the hill overlooking the harbor. A private marina at the foot of the hill harbors the yachts and sailboats owned by the club's wealthy members. The clubhouse has several opulent dining rooms and meeting halls, while a long screened-in veranda facing the harbor stretches the length of the building. The country club frequently organizes races, including the gala Pickering Regatta held annually the first Saturday of July. The club's non-sailing members - and there are many - socialize, play cards, drink, do business, and so on. Members-only balls are held throughout the year celebrating various holidays. Prospective members must be sponsored by a current member and interviewed by the Stratton's stringent membership review board before gaining acceptance. ''The Good Son'' (Mobile Location) The most recent addition to the private marina of the Stratton Yacht club looks as if it had just left the shipyard. There is not a single spot on its shiny white finish, nor even a name printed on its hull. The only item that was probably not included in delivery is the flag on the little mast at the front, which shows a golden serpent on a red backdrop. 39 meters long and 7 meters high, it makes the adjoining yachts and sailboats look like little walnut shells. The more important premises of the interior include a spacious dining and sitting area, eight bedrooms with en suite bathrooms (1x captain, 3x master, 4x crew), a sun deck, a bathing platform with a hot tub, and another common room on the crew level. Yacht1.jpg Yacht4.jpg Yacht3.jpg Yacht2.jpg 'Artist's Colony '(Housing, Expression/Crafts 3 Site) This area is an old residential neighborhood now housing the bulk of Kingsmouth's bohemian artist-folk. Most of the tenements here are rundown and many are overcrowded, but a few found along White Road are in nicer shape. There are also a number of small, once-respectable houses in this area that are also rented out to the artist-folk. Kingsmouth's artist community is seasonal, growing larger in the spring and summer and dwindling with the coming of winter. The wiser itinerant artists show up early in April to grab the choicer lodgings. The artists arrive just before the tourists, who form the major market for their sketches, paintings, sculptures, and pottery. The yearly artist population ranges from more than fifty or sixty during the summer to a mere handful in the winter months. The artists are a disparate, bohemian lot, most barely able to make enough money to pay rent, buy art supplies, and feed themselves. They are a dreamy bunch of intellectuals, most of them visual artists, but counting among their number several poets, musicians, and writers. In the summer, the artists congregate near the waterfront with their chairs and easels, sketching seascapes and landscapes, or doing portraits for vacationers. Mercer Art Gallery purchases works from some of the promising artists, and the cream of their work is available for sale at Remnant's. 'The White Pier Café '(Socialize 2 Site) This small eatery and coffee shop is located right on the shore and is a favorite hangout with the artist crowd. Coffee, breakfasts, sandwiches, soft drinks, pastries, and other simple foods are served here. Inside is a long curved counter and a few booths. Outside is a deck (the 'White Pier') with several tables. 'Mercer Art Gallery '(Academics 2/Expression/Crafts 2 Site) The Mercer Art Gallery is technically in Stratton, half a block from the district border. The gallery is an impressive two-story Federal Mansion, with opening hours of 10am to 5pm, Monday through Saturday, during the summer season. From October through April, Saturday hours are 1pm to 5pm. There are hundreds of paintings and sculptures on display throughout the gallery's two stories, and some effort has been made to group pieces together by topic or by particular artist. One wing is devoted to local artists, where displayed works are on sale, while another wing hosts traveling exhibits for periods of up to six weeks. The gallery also sponsors other artistic events: poetry readings, music recitals, concerts, film showings, painting seminars (a hit with the tourists), plays, and so forth. 'The Curiosity Shop '(Occult 4 Site) A large handpainted sign outside this slightly rundown private home promises "Bizare Creatures," "Ancient Reliques," and "Mysteries from Around the World." The simpler exhibits range from drawings of sea monsters and wonders like the Sphinx of Giza to photographs of human freaks, wrecked ships, and trains. There's a collection of stuffed reptiles, birds, insects, and small mammals - many deformed or two-headed. Conspiracy theories and cryptozoology abound, with a serious scientific effort to prove things most people refuse to believe. The proprietor, Neil Hazlitt, conducts personal tours with non-stop informative (and highly entertaining) patter about his collection - far more charismatic than the stereotype of the wild-eyed conspiracy theorist. 'Underwood Park Cemetery '(Location) Cemeteries are nasty, dirty places, full of hooting owls, shreds of ominous mist, and the creeping, clawlike branches of long-dead trees. Not so with Underwood Park! The newest of Kingsport's cemeteries, Underwood dates back to only 1952. The Cemetery is surrounded by a hip-height wooden t-bar barricade with frequent breaks and ringed by slanted parking. The grass is well maintained and the headstones are scrubbed frequently. Most plots have a little brass urn for keeping flowers and other such offerings in, and flowers are left only until they've truly begun to rot. Dried flowers are left until they decompose. The cemetery is almost an actual park, and the beautiful landscaping makes it seem like an alright place to hold a picnic. If you don't mind dead people hanging out nearby. 'The U.S. Coast Guard Station '(Location) Kingsport's small Coast Guard Lifesaving Station is located right on the harbor. The building is a long rectangular structure set back from the shore. It has one story, with a small, open observation tower on the roof. A tall antenna mast nearby rises 35 feet into the sky. A veranda runs along the north and west sides of the building; it's connected to a nearby boathouse and dock by short flights of stairs. The boathouse holds various types of lifesaving equipment, including line-projecting guns, hawsers, buoys, signal flares, life jackets, small lifeboats, and the station's two large motor launches. Anchored at the dock is the station's powered 40-foot-long sailing sloop, Martha. The main building contains a reception room, a radio room, file and storage areas, a dormitory large enough to house more than a dozen men, and the offices of the Executive and Commanding Officers. The Coast Guard is under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department during peacetime, but reassigned to the Navy in times of war. Their usual duties include the clearing or destroying of derelicts and other marine obstacles, enforcing maritime law and regulations, protection of property, and most importantly, the saving of lives at sea. The Kingsmouth guardsmen regularly patrol the nearby coast, even in the very worst of weather, and conduct intensive searches whenever necessary. 'Public Marinas '(Housing 3+) Along the southern shore of Miskatonic Bay, stretching from Blake's Creek to Putnam Street, the Public Marinas harbor pleasure craft of every description, from house-boats to private fishing craft to speed boats. Many of the locally owned craft are available for rent during the summer months, and several of the houseboats are occupied year-round. Signs hang from several of the boats offering to teach sailing to interested parties, and several small bait and tackle stands have sprung up across the street or even right up along the docks. 'Orchard Island '(Location) Orchard Island is a tourist spot for small pleasure craft. The locale was once named for the many cherry and apple trees growing here, planted by early settlers, but they have long since gone wild. In the spring, the profusion of blossoms is particularly beautiful. There is only a single footpath even wildly maintained, and that mostly by hikers who beat down the undergrowth from time to time. While there are raccoons and rabbits on Orchard Island, no bigger game can be found, and no predators of any sort, not even the foxes indigenous to this part of the united states. Category:Stratton Category:Kingsport Category:Locations Category:Miskatonic Bay Category:Socialize sites Category:Occult sites Category:Academics sites Category:Expression sites Category:Craft sites Category:Claimed territories